by Suzi Weinert
Becca’s jaw dropped. Kidnapping? “This is her daughter, Becca. She isn’t here right now. What’s going on, Detective?”
“You say you are her daughter? How old are you?”
“Twenty-one. For God’s sake, Detective, what’s going on?”
“You don’t know?”
“I’ve been out all afternoon and just got home. Please tell me, what’s this about?”
He filled her in. “We need to come over now to plan strategy to get the boy back safely.”
“I hear call-waiting. Give me your number. I’ll call you right back.” Becca scratched his number on the note her mother had left then switched to the incoming line.
“Hello, this is Veronika Verontsova. May I speak to Jennifer’s husband?”
“He’s not here but this is her daughter. May I help?”
“I’m the Russian woman she met for lunch today.”
“The psychic?”
“Yes. I…I’ve had another vision and I’m calling to warn you. She is in perilous danger tonight. She’s in a field trying to save a little boy from dangerous men who plan to kill them both.”
Becca gulped.
“Please listen carefully. We have very little time to save her and you must play an important role. In my vision she left information about where she went. A letter? A note for her husband?”
“Hold on while I run upstairs to look. She rushed into her parents’ master bedroom, glanced into each of their walk-in closets and then into their bathroom. Between their double sinks she found an envelope addressed to “Jason.” She tore it open. “Veronika, are you still there?”
“Yes, what did you find?”
“Her note to my father. Here, I’ll read it aloud,
Jay,
Sorry to do this without you, Love, but I couldn’t wait for your return tonight.
I contacted Milo’s kidnappers today and got a cell phone, which they’ll use to give me directions.
They said to bring the diamonds to exchange for him but I’m only taking half because if they get them all, Milo and I won’t come back. I made this decision myself, knowing you’d stop me otherwise. I made this problem so I should solve it. If things go wrong, remember how much I have always loved you and that you and our family are most precious to me in all the world.
If I’m not home by your return, please rescue me. I gave OnStar advance permission to share my GPS location with you and the Fairfax County police. Call 1-888-For-OnStar. My member number is on the enclosed card. Maybe Adam can help you with OnStar. Nice to have a police detective in the family when we need one!
My love always,
Jen
Veronika’s voice filled with urgency. “Now you must alert this Adam about the OnStar so he can find her and you must call OnStar to confirm your authorization for him to use this information to save her life. Do you understand?”
“Yes. Thank you, Veronika.”
“Hurry!”
She hung up the phone.
82
Monday, 6:52 PM
“Hello, Hannah? Please let me talk to Adam right away. I don’t have time to explain. It’s urgent. …Adam, it’s Becca. We have an emergency. I found a note from Mom saying she contacted Milo’s kidnappers. They gave her a cell phone to receive directions to some place where they’ll exchange the diamonds for Milo. She planned ahead by giving OnStar permission to tell Dad and the police her vehicle’s tracking location. Dad’s out of town, so it’s up to you. Can you start right away?”
“Yes, ready to copy.”
She read the numbers. “Call me with any news. I can’t believe she’d try this by herself.”
“Really?” he asked and hung up.
• • •
“Hello, Onstar? I’m Detective Adam Iverson of the Fairfax County Police. This is about your member, Jennifer Shannon.” He read her member number. “She gave you her permission to tell us the location of her vehicle per your GPS. Do you find that?”
“I’ll refer you to a different department and…”
“Wait a minute, is Brad Billings on duty tonight? He’s familiar with….”
“Just a moment, I’ll check.”
“Hello, this is Brad Billings.”
“Hi, Brad, here’s a voice from the recent past. I’m sure glad you’re on duty tonight.” Adam identified himself and reminded him of their past work on the other case.
“I remember it well; glad it worked out well. How can I help you now, Detective?”
“Jennifer followed directions from kidnappers to trade a ransom for her grandson. In order not to endanger other loved ones, she went herself. As backup, she left her permission with OnStar to let police track her vehicle and that’s exactly what we’re doing now.”
“I’m searching for her permission to give you this information…yes, it just came up on the screen. Since I know who you are because we’ve worked together before, let’s waste no time.”
Adam heard the tap of computer keys.
“Okay, looks like her vehicle is parked along the McLean/Great Falls border in an area that's not commercial, residential or parkland but maybe agricultural. Here are the coordinates.”
Adam copied numbers, thanked Brad and hung up.
As he stared at the coordinates and their significance registered, he jumped to his feet. “Geez, Hannah, I know these numbers by heart from subdividing our property. Her car is parked on our land. We’ve got to hurry to save your Mom and Milo. Grab the rifle, your cell phone and a warm jacket. Climb into the deer stand halfway across the property. When I call you on your cell, fire the rifle into the air three times. By then I’ll be close to the perps. Your gunshot will distract them so I can make my move.”
Used to dressing fast for police work, Adam whipped on his Kevlar bullet-protective vest, jerking a black long-sleeved t-shirt over it. With no idea the size force he’d encounter, he slipped on a camouflage vest containing pepper spray, box cutter and taser. He pushed his pistol into his belt, thrust his cell phone into a vest pocket, grabbed night-vision goggles, blew a kiss to his startled wife and rushed from the house into the dark.
He ran along the same abandoned farm road used a year earlier by his deranged brother, Ruger, who took flight from police after Jennifer escaped. From the OnStar coordinates, Adam knew exactly where he headed on his property, two miles from his house but along a completely different country road.
He ran quickly but with little noise. From frequent walks around the property, he knew this grass-covered road well, even in the dark. Always volatile, kidnapping scenarios moved unpredictably. Would either family member still be alive when he reached the spot? He pushed himself to run faster, covering the two miles quickly. Nearing the target area, he slowed, heard voices and crept forward with stealth. He donned night-vision goggles and scanned the scene before him.
83
Monday, 7:13 PM
Aware of masked people moving around her car, Jennifer heard the cell-phone voice drone, “Step out of the car and put your hands in the air.”
She dropped the phone on the seat and climbed out into the darkness, palms raised.
Rough hands grabbed her, frisked her, removed the sock of diamonds and threw her on the ground. A man’s heavy boot ground into the small of her back, pinning her painfully flat on the ground. Fear and pain combined with the shock of this onslaught to warn her with certainty they intended to grab the diamonds and kill them both. She screamed, “You won’t get the rest of your diamonds if you hurt me or the boy.”
More rough hands pulled her to her feet. One grabbed her hair, jerking her head back. “What did you say?” he growled.
She shouted, “I said you won’t get the rest of your diamonds if you hurt me or the boy.”
The masked man holding the sock looked up sharply. “The rest of the diamonds? You didn’t bring them all?”
The ringleader poured the sock’s contents into one huge hand, studied them and dropped them back inside.
“Of
course not,” Jennifer said loudly, “I cannot trust you. You’d kill the boy and me if you got them all now. The rest are at the bank and only my key and signature can get them out.”
“Well, now,” came the oily voice of a second man. “You are a troublemaker, but we know how to deal with that. After what we do, you will beg to bring us to the diamonds.”
“I beg to bring you the rest of the diamonds now. The bank is a public place where I must walk in to sign for them. Everybody will see me. If I am hurt in any way, they will all know.”
“Hmm,” the man purred, “we have many techniques showing no outside marks but which make you cry to do whatever we ask if only we stop the pain. You’ll gladly get the diamonds for us.”
“But I’ll gladly get the diamonds for you now, anyway. After you return the boy.”
“Or we keep the boy and give you a last chance to exchange the remaining diamonds for his life.”
“Maybe you’ve already killed him, so none of this matters. Let me see him.”
The voice behind the mask fell silent as an anxious moment passed. “Show her the boy.”
Jennifer heard a car door slam in the darkness, followed by a child’s whimpers. One of the men directed a flashlight beam on Milo. Held in a man’s tight grasp, the child stood about thirty feet from her. He winced as the light played upon his little face, blinding him with brightness.
“Or another useful method is to chop off small pieces of the boy’s body while you watch—until you bring us the remaining diamonds. First a fingertip, then an ear, then the nose, then…”
She hoped Milo missed this grisly incantation. She fought anxiety and steadied her voice to avoid further alarming the frightened child. “Milo, I’ve come for you,” she shouted, holding her arms out to him. He wriggled to break away and run to her, but the man held him fast.
“No,” said the voice behind the mask. “First we take the diamonds you brought tonight and you get the boy only when you produce the rest.”
“But then we’re right back to tonight. You’d have the diamonds while the boy and I have no protection and then you kill us.” In defiance, she raised her body as high as it would go. “No.”
The man spoke next in a condescending sing-song voice one might use with a toddler. “Well, then, I guess you must learn to trust us.”
Jennifer choked back a semi-hysterical laugh of derision welling in her throat but which would only enrage the man. She’d read that a woman’s public scorn equaled humiliation for a man in his culture, particularly with such ridicule delivered in the presence of his peers.
“We do not trust each other, but let’s make a plan in which we both win,” she said.
She heard the impatient snarl of one not used to having his desires questioned, but she must save Milo. “You trade me the boy for half the diamonds that I brought tonight. That’s fifty percent more than you had and you’re halfway to where you want to be. Tomorrow, I go to the bank to get the rest. I will put those diamonds anywhere you say and you can get them any time you want.”
“And if you decide not to get the diamonds at the bank? You have the boy but we don’t have all our diamonds. Or what if you tell police where you put them? They’d arrest the one who gets them.”
“Kidnapping Milo showed me you can harm my family. I get that. Why would I call police to risk it again?”
He conferred with the others. Several nodded.
“All right. We have half the diamonds. Take the boy and go. You still have the cell phone directing you here tonight. We will use it to tell you where to leave the diamonds tomorrow. Fortunate for us your family is large, offering many easy targets if you make a mistake.
He made a gesture. “Release the boy.”
No sooner than Milo began running toward her outstretched arms than the sharp report of three gunshots shattered the silence of the night.
84
Monday, 7:41 PM
In Adam’s night-vision goggles, Jennifer and Milo glowed green as they hugged each other near her car. Adam saw the kidnappers nearby—at least three balaclava-masked men. They had the advantage of numbers, he of surprise. He could take down one, maybe two by himself but three or more changed the odds. More important, the government always wanted them alive for interrogation.
He called for backup before racing out of the farmhouse but doubted a cruiser would reach the scene in time. The three men he could see moved toward their car and opened the doors. Adam couldn’t let them escape. “Shoot into the air now, Hannah,” he whispered into his cell phone.
The crack of three rifle shots broke the night as she responded. At the kidnap scene, all heads snapped toward the sound. When no follow-up came, the men jumped into the vehicle and roared toward the road.
Adam shot out two tires on the side of the car visible to him in the goggles and as the car squared off to leave, he disabled the other rear tire with more bullets. A car could ride on flat tires, but not fast. As their vehicle reached the road, Adam saw the scene flicker with blue cruiser lights. How could police cars dispatched for backup arrive that fast?
Running up behind their fleeing car, Adam held his pistol steady. Seeing police in the road, the kidnappers bailed from their vehicle and rushed into the field, away from the arriving cops and directly toward Adam.
“Police! Stop or I’ll shoot!”
A bullet zinged past him. He responded by shooting toward the legs of two of the men. When they screamed and fell, the third stopped, putting his hands in the air.
Alongside Jennifer, in the split second before one of the kidnappers raised his hands, he threw something at her. Reaching for it in the gloom, she realized he’d tossed back the bag of diamonds she’d brought tonight. “Now we know where to find them again,” he said. “If police take them, they are gone for good.”
Adam focused his weapon on the two men still standing when a surprising number of cops closed in from the road to overwhelm the kidnappers. Their cruiser headlights illuminated this corner of the dark field. With the three perps face down on the ground and cuffed, Adam called out to the uniforms, “Police officer here. Don’t shoot.” Hurrying over to the cops, he identified himself. “How the hell did you know about this crime scene?”
“911 traced the kid’s cell phone. Fixed him at a house in McLean, but when the perps brought him here we followed. Are they okay, the woman and the kid?”
“Let’s find out.” While several policemen wrestled the two injured men into an ambulance and the other into a cruiser, Adam and other cops strode over to Jennifer and Milo. “You and the boy okay, Ma’am?” asked one of them.
“Glad to be alive and not hurt. Thank you for saving us. Milo says they pushed him around and scared him. but I think he’s all right. He’s been through a lot for a four year old.”
“We’ll drive you home right now, Ma’am.”
”What about my car?”
“Give us your keys and one of our men will follow us there in it.”
“Adam, how did you get here?” Jennifer asked in amazement.
“OnStar gave me your vehicle location and—you won’t believe it—you’re standing on a piece of my farm property.”
“What?”
“They must have scouted an empty field away from residential scrutiny and picked mine. Hannah’s here, too. She’ll want to see you before you leave.”
The policemen helped Jennifer and Milo into their cruiser.
“Wow,” Milo marveled. “Are we going to wide home in this police caw?”
“We sure are, Son,” confirmed the driver. “Shall we use the siren?”
Milo’s smudged little face beamed. “Yes, yes!”
Hannah rushed up, gasping for breath. “Mom…I’ve been so worried. Are you and Milo…all right?” They exchanged reassurances all around.
“Tomorrow we’ll tell you Hannah’s role in saving you and Milo,” Adam said. Hannah beamed as his arm went around her shoulder.
“Thank you both for rescuing us. Love you so
much.”
As the police car bumped across the farm road to the pavement, Jennifer hugged Milo close. The little tyke said, “It’s lucky you telled us about calling 911.”
Tears of relief sparkled in her eyes. “Yes,” she agreed, smoothing his hair, “…very lucky.”
When the cruiser reached the road, the policeman driving said, “Are you ready for the siren, Milo?”
He sat up, wiggling with excitement. “You bet I am.”
“Here goes.” The distinctive wail filled the air.
Jennifer marveled. They’d made it through alive and she still had the diamonds. But after the series of arrests, these people had even more reason to hate her. Would their ruthless companions add revenge to their previous zeal to get their diamonds?
She leaned her head back against the cruiser seat and closed her eyes. With tonight’s rescue, was her terror over or was this only round one of the fight yet to come?
85
Monday, 8:16 PM
Zayneb thought Ahmed did not look well tonight. He and Abdul, the man acting as driver since Mahmud’s absence, had closed themselves in the study, intently discussing business.
She sat in the dining room, allowing her mind to wander. Mahmud’s absence lifted a huge burden from her heart. She no longer feared his beatings, his looks of disgust, his loathing of her friends, his anger at her outside interests or his cutting indifference to Khadija.
Her family home was safe again now that he couldn’t legally take half from her. She needn’t anguish over the complications, expense and repercussions of divorce. While she still embraced Islam, she’d like to be called Phoebe once again.
Now she need only solve her money problems and wanted to find an independent solution different from asking Khadija to contribute from her salary. Maybe she could move Heba upstairs, finish the basement into an apartment and rent it out. Maybe she could get a job at the school where her hours dovetailed with Safia’s, earning money while continuing as a stay-at-home mother. Who could imagine so much good came from her spouse’s accidental death? According to the newspaper and TV detective programs, many people wished their spouse dead or tried to make it happen. In her case, Allah indeed worked his plan for each person’s fate in unusual ways. Life was looking up.
